


Once and For All - Drabbles

by RecklesslyMindful



Series: Once and For All [2]
Category: Arthur (Cartoon), Cyberchase (Cartoon), WordGirl
Genre: Action, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-02 12:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13317981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecklesslyMindful/pseuds/RecklesslyMindful
Summary: A simple series of drabbles detailing the characters' lives in the months following the main events of Once and For All, and leading up to the upcoming official sequel, which is currently in the works. Here you'll get to read about, among other things, Becky and Fern's developing relationship and Becky's efforts to help Fern recover from the trauma she experienced, their new friendship with the Cybersquad and Fern and Delete's first mission with them, and their first Christmas as a group and all it entails.





	1. The Next Day

Becky Botsford, otherwise known as WordGirl, sat down on the front steps of the high school, looking out at the school grounds before her, where several other students were milling about, killing time before the official beginning of the school day and their first classes. She was glad on this day that her bus was one of the earlier ones to arrive, so that she would already be prepared to jump up and greet and assist her girlfriend when her own bus pulled up.

The past couple weeks had been some of the most trying, eventful, confused and emotional ones of Becky’s life. Mere days prior, she had been forced to fight one of her most nefarious foes ever, known by the moniker “Hacker” or “The Hacker,” in what had turned out to be a battle to the death. While most of the time she could handle her adversaries fine, with the only assistance coming from her monkey sidekick Captain Huggyface, this time she had been helped greatly by another group of crime fighters known as the Cybersquad, who were already quite familiar with this green-skinned menace and had much experience fighting him in a place called Cyberspace. He had escaped from this place by way of a portal he created and had intended to defeat WordGirl and take over the planet.

On top of that, helping them sneak onto Hacker’s ship, the Grim Wreaker, had been none other than one of his own henchmen who had switched to their side due to his morals being strongly tested. It had been hard for Delete knowing his former comrades had been killed in battle, but it wasn’t all bad for him. They now had little to no reason to believe he was insincere in wanting to change, and they had offered him a position on the Cybersquad, which he had accepted. He was assumedly at Control Central right now, with Digit showing him the ropes. They all had a lot to thank him for.

And yet, if Becky had been forced to pinpoint one person as the main reason for Hacker’s defeat, she didn’t believe she’d have picked any of them or herself, as essential as everyone had been to their success. If any one person shouldered the largest amount of credit, she didn’t believe it was herself or Delete or any other of the original Cybersquad members, but rather her own girlfriend, Fern Walters. Granted, she hadn’t been brought into the situation by her own choice. After arriving in their dimension, discovering WordGirl and her secret identity, and finding out she had a crush on Fern, Hacker had ordered his henchmen to kidnap her so they could use her to try and force WordGirl to surrender. But like a real trooper, after Delete helped her escape her captivity, she had offered to help in their efforts to defeat Hacker.

Becky had been hesitant to allow her to do this, of course. Unlike the rest of them, Fern had had absolutely no experience fighting bad guys. She was also generally shy and passive, and Becky didn’t want to see her get hurt. After a bit of persuasion though, she had caved in and allowed her to sneak back onto the Wreaker along with the Cybersquad and Delete. They all were unfortunately caught and locked in the boiler room, but Fern had been the first one to escape and had therefore been tasked with removing the ship’s power source while the rest made efforts to get out themselves. She had regretfully broken her arm in the process, but she accomplished it nonetheless, and she and the rest of the team managed to make their getaway before the ship went down. Due to her bravery and the resolve she had displayed, she was offered a spot on the Cybersquad alongside Delete, which she had also happily accepted.

Since then, the past couple days had been much better for the most part. Becky and Fern had officially gotten together, as well as Matt and Inez from the Cybersquad. Jackie, the final member, had encouraged her two friends to admit their feelings to each other for quite some time, and Matt had finally admitted his own to Inez after escaping the boiler room while on their way to find Fern. Fern had been forced to go to the hospital to have her arm tended to, but it had thankfully only been a small hairline fracture, and she had been allowed to go home the following morning. Matt, Jackie, Inez and Fern had quickly become overnight celebrities of sorts across town, and rightfully so. It wasn’t often that civilians were seen on the news helping WordGirl fight crime.

While Becky sat there on the cold stone steps, watching the morning sunrise and reflecting on the events of the past several days as she waited for Fern’s bus to arrive, she caught sight of two girls approaching the front doors as they talked with each other. They weren’t in the same grade as her, rather they shared the same one with Fern, but she recognized them and knew they were on the popular side. If her assumption was correct, these were Francine Frensky and Muffy Crosswire. Remembering the conversation she had had with Fern the previous week, the former name caused her to wince a bit. As their words became clearer to Becky, she soon realized what they were talking about.

“I just couldn’t believe it when I saw her there, hanging off the side of that spaceship thing!”

“I know! I never thought Fern had it in her to do anything like that!”

“Heh, me neither. It was definitely pretty cool though, I’ll admit.”

“I didn’t really see her much at school yesterday, did you?”

“No, but I saw a few groups of kids who seemed to be following someone around all day. She must have been in the middle of that. I could be wrong, though.”

As the two freshmen reached the front steps and got closer to Becky, they both spotted her and paused. “Hey, um, you know Fern Walters, don’t you?” Francine asked. “I’ve seen you with her around school and at lunch and stuff the past couple weeks.”

Becky looked up at them and replied, slightly confused. “Yeah… Why do you ask?”

“Well, we were just so shocked when we heard the news about her helping WordGirl along with those other kids, and when we saw the repeat coverage of it later that night on the news!” Muffy exclaimed.

“We both had her in our classes in elementary school, and she hardly ever said a word,” Francine explained. “She’s just about the last person I would have thought would do something like this!”

“Is that so?” Becky asked flatly.

Francine furrowed her brow, picking up on the negative vibe she was getting from Becky. “Did I do something to you… whatever your name is?”

“Becky,” Becky answered, frowning slightly, “and no, you didn’t. Fern and I went out to eat last week, and you two came up in conversation. She already mentioned to me that you both were in her classes with her back then. She’s fine with you,” she explained, looking briefly at Muffy before fixing her eyes back on Francine, “but she told me that YOU used to pick on her sometimes.”

Francine rolled her eyes. “Oh, so THAT’S what this is all about. Look, it only happened a couple times, alright? I may not have been the nicest kid, but she and I made up after that. I wouldn’t have thought she’d still be holding a grudge on me for that.”

This was certainly news to Muffy as well. She still talked with Fern now and again, even if it wasn’t an extremely common occurrence, due to having an already large circle of friends. She never got the impression that Fern still harbored negative feelings towards Francine. She supposed she could kind of see it, however, when she thought about it. “Well to be completely fair, Francine, you never ACTUALLY said you were sorry to her.”

Francine turned toward her best friend and said defensively, “What are you talking about?! After that whole fiasco with the comics and stuff, I realized I had made a mistake, and I told Mrs. MacGrady all about how bad I felt! And we made up afterwards, right?”

“I’m not saying you didn’t learn your lesson or anything,” Muffy assured. “It’s just that you never really gave an actual apology to her face. The words ‘I’m sorry, Fern’ never escaped your lips. And I could tell you still weren’t too fond of her after that. Remember the whole incident at Moose Mountain when you were her hiking buddy? You acted like a bit of a jerk towards her, and you being in a hurry got the both of you lost. All she wanted to do was use the bathroom.”

“Geez, Muffy. Way to take Fern’s side,” Francine snarled. “But I guess it makes sense you’d want to get more chummy with her, seeing how much more popular she’s getting…”

“I’m not taking sides!” Muffy protested. “I’m just saying what happened!

Becky watched the two other girls the entire time as they talked, barely knowing what they were talking about anymore, and feeling kind of bad for starting this whole thing. She made a mental note to herself to ask Fern about these things that they were talking about at a later date, though. “Guys, guys, wait! Fern doesn’t still hold a grudge against you, Francine. Don’t think she’s still mad at you or anything. She only brought it up in passing, and she said the same thing about how you made up... I just hate the idea of anyone picking on her is all.”

Francine and Muffy glanced at each other a moment before looking back down at where Becky sat, the former chuckling a bit. “Why, you have a crush on her or something?” she asked jokingly.

Becky frowned once more and said defensively, deciding she had nothing to hide, “Actually, yes, since you ask. She and I are going out.”

This made the two underclassmen do a double-take. “You’re kidding!” Muffy said in shock.

“No,” Becky denied. “We just became official the other day. Ask Fern when she gets here if you don’t believe me.”

“Ask me what?” another voice spoke up unexpectedly. The three girls turned their heads to see Fern at the bottom of the steps, making her way up while carrying a book and her notebook with her free arm.

“Fern, hi!” Becky greeted, going down a couple steps and grabbing her book before helping her up the stairs and stopping when they reached the spot she’d been in before. “I’m sorry I missed you! I was going to run over to your bus when I saw it pull up in case you needed help with anything.”

“It’s fine, Becky,” Fern assured. “I didn’t have much to carry today anyway.”

“Fern!” Muffy spoke up, stepping over to her. “I heard about what happened! I can hardly believe you did that! It was really brave of you to help WordGirl like that!”

“Oh! Well thanks, Muffy,” Fern replied. “It’s not a big deal, though.”

“Not a big deal?! Anything that gets your arm broken seems like a big deal to me!” Muffy countered, bending down and examining the sling and gauze encasing Fern’s arm. “You poor thing! If you need the help, I’d be happy to let you borrow Bailey for a little while. Not that you’d have to pay him or anything. Daddy would of course take care of that.”

“That’s nice of you to offer, Muffy, but I think I’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, I already offered to help her with everything anyway,” Becky agreed.

“Oh, okay. Well if you do need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask,” Muffy insisted.

“Thanks, Muffy. I appreciate it,” Fern replied, even if she doubted she’d be taking the offer at any point, as she saw no real reason to.

“Come on, we’d better get going to give you enough time to get ready for class,” Becky pointed out, adjusting Fern’s things and holding them under her arm.

“Alright, sounds good. See you, Muffy,” Fern said, giving her a small wave. She and Becky then placed each of their free hands in each other’s grasp and held them as they walked inside, while Fern’s classmates watched with surprise.

“Wow… I never had any idea Fern liked girls,” Francine commented.

“I suppose it’s not too surprising, when you think about it,” Muffy said. “I never ONCE heard her talk about boys. And remember seeing her and George play detective sometimes, and how she would always wear that fake mustache with her outfit?”

“Hmm… good point,” Francine said with a shrug.

Muffy smirked amusedly. “You know, a few people have asked me if YOU like girls.”

“What?! You’ve got to be kidding me! Of all the nerve! A girl is good at sports and suddenly everyone thinks she’s a lesbian, huh?”

“Well, it’s not too surprising that they’d believe that, when you think about it,” Muffy repeated coyly.

“Oh shut it,” Francine scoffed, turning her head away annoyedly.

Muffy chuckled. It was so easy to agitate her best friend.

Inside the building, Fern turned towards Becky as they walked hand in hand down the hall. “So anyway, really, ask me about what?” she repeated, wondering what about her she could have been discussing with Francine and Muffy.

Becky reluctantly went on to explain what the conversation had consisted of, being periodically interrupted by people saying hello to Fern, which she politely returned each time. Upon finishing  her explanation, Becky stressed that she didn’t let either of Fern’s classmates think she still held any negative feelings against them.

“Oh yeah, I remember the Moose Mountain thing,” Fern said, recalling the incident. “That wasn’t so bad. We managed to find our way to the top of the mountain, and a ranger found us there.”

“Sorry I confronted Francine about everything,” Becky apologized. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I just saw her and got irked and it slipped out. She’s not mad at you, I promise.”

“It’s okay, Becky, don’t worry. It honestly just feels good knowing you’re so willing to defend me, even over small things.”

Becky shrugged. “I guess it’s just my instinct to do that, especially for someone I really care about.”

Fern giggled. “Thanks, Becky. I’d do the same for you, but I’m not really the confrontational type.”

“That’s okay,” Becky assured. “If I’m ever in a pinch that a good poem will get me out of, I’ll know who to call.”


	2. The Camping Trip

“We really don’t have to do this now, Fern, if you don’t want to,” Becky insisted as they packed the back of her car full of supplies. On this Saturday morning, not long before noon, they would be taking off for their small camping trip Becky had promised Fern they would try and do. Once finished, they would make the drive outside town and into the woods. Becky was glad she had finally just gotten her license, so now they didn't have to rely on anyone else to get them there. There, they planned to meet Matt, Jackie and Inez, who would be arriving in Matt’s truck, in the same spot they had previously parked when searching for the wreckage of the Wreaker a couple weeks prior, which Becky had successfully managed to clean up. Her powers really came in handy sometimes.

It had been obvious to Becky in the days following the tumultuous hours they’d spent dealing with Hacker that Fern had been affected by it. While they were together, Becky would notice Fern blanking out sometimes, during which she was flashing back to the things she had experienced. Fern traditionally enjoyed creepy things, be they ghost stories, Halloween, or horror movies. But going through real, terrifying things had already seemed to affect her enjoyment of them, even something as simple as a walk in the woods. Becky, wanting to help her as much as she could, had suggested going on a small overnight trip such as this with her, along with their new friends, to help her see there was nothing to be worried about. Becky may not have personally been a fan of camping or hiking, but she could put up with the negatives of it if it meant helping Fern.

“It’s fine, Becky,” Fern replied, standing nearby as Becky went back and forth between the garage and car. She unfortunately couldn’t help much with packing due to her incapacitated arm, but she had offered to at least hold the cooler of hot dogs and sodas. “Like you said, we should do this before we give winter a chance to get here. It’ll be a lot less fun when it’s below freezing and snowy.”

“It would also be more fun if you didn’t have to deal with a broken arm the whole time,” Becky noted regretfully, grabbing a pair of folding chairs.

“It’s a trade-off,” Fern said with a shrug. “And I really wish you would stop feeling bad about it, Becky. It was nobody’s fault. I’ll be fine again in a few weeks.”

“I know, it’s just… It wouldn’t have happened if I’d made you stay at Control Central.”

“I also wouldn’t have gotten the chance to live a dream,” Fern added. “I finally got the chance to due something heroic, and I also got to get back at someone who had the nerve to kidnap me and make you really worried and angry. Don’t feel TOO bad for me.”

Becky sighed. “You’re right, maybe I shouldn’t. I still wish it hadn’t happened, though…”

“Me too, but it’s in the past, and it’s only temporary. Besides, I’d like to hope it’s been kind of fun for you getting to help me out with so many things because of it, and this is no exception. It’s hard to do a lot myself right now. I’m like your own little damsel in distress,” Fern observed with a chuckle.

“Well, ‘fun’ is the wrong word. I can only enjoy it so much when you’re hurt. I get what you mean, though.”

“I think it fits. You ARE my hero, after all, and I mean that quite literally. Tobey McCallister would be so jealous if he could see us now and know who you are.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Becky agreed, closing the trunk as she got everything inside. “I can’t believe he still thinks he can win me over after all this time. I’d love to tell him off and let him know I’m already with someone, but I don’t want to reveal anything about myself to him or anyone else… Alright, I think we’re ready. Sure you have everything you need? You know more about this stuff than I do.”

Fern nodded, opening the passenger door.. “Yep, I think we have everything we need. I’m ready if you are.”

“Great! Let’s go, then! We don’t want to keep the others waiting.”

***

Becky and Fern arrived at the designated meeting place several minutes later, where they found Matt, Jackie and Inez all waiting for them. They climbed out of their respective vehicles at the same time, and Becky went around the back to grab stuff while Fern approached her friends.

“Heya, Fernie!” Matt greeted, being the first to reach the youngest girl, giving her a quick hug.

“Hi, guys!” Fern replied, hugging him back. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

Jackie shook her head. “Nah, it was just a few minutes, and Matt’s truck’s heating works pretty good for a car as old and run down as it is.”

Matt sighed. “Yeah, I won’t totally like having to stop using it once I get a new car. But it’s barely holding together now anyway.”

“Still no calls from Motherboard?” Fern asked, pulling out her new skwak pad. “I’ve been worried this thing is broken or something.”

“Nope, nothing,” Inez replied. “It feels really weird going so long without going to Cyberspace at all.”

“No kidding,” Matt agreed. “I shouldn’t say I WANT someone to cause trouble over there, but I feel kind of useless without someone like Hacker to constantly be up to no good.”

“I get what you mean,” Fern said empathetically. “I’d like to be able to see Delete at some point and see how he’s doing.”

“Don’t worry about him, Fern,” Jackie said. “I’m sure Digit’s looking after him just fine…” She looked towards Becky’s car, noticing she had been back there a minute. “Hey, you need any help over there?” she called out.

“I don’t think so,” Becky answered, poking her head around the side of the car. “I just don’t think I’ll be able to carry all this in one go. Too awkward. You guys have a bunch of stuff too, right?”

Matt nodded. “Yep, it’s all in the truck bed.”

“Hmm… I have an idea. Let’s go stake out a good spot, and then I’ll handle the rest.”

Matt shrugged. “Alright then. Let’s get to it,” he said, taking Inez’s hand and gesturing for their other friends to follow.

“I just hope there aren’t too many bugs,” Jackie fretted, following close behind with Becky and Fern.

“Well, it’s gotten a bit cooler. It hasn’t actually frozen yet, but I think we’ll be alright,” Inez analyzed.

“Good thing we had the chance to do this before it got super cold, though,” Matt remarked. “This was a good idea, Becky. I’m glad you suggested it.”

“Thanks, Matt, but I’m not actually a very outdoorsy person. I actually suggested it because I thought Fern might enjoy it.”

Matt turned back in surprise. “Really?? You like camping, Fern? I wouldn’t have guessed!”

Fern nodded and moved up next to him. “I’ve enjoyed stuff like that before. Camping, hiking, that sort of thing.”

Matt smiled and patted her back. “How about that! I like this girl! You’re pretty cool, Fern.”

Fern giggled and blushed. “Thanks, Matt.”

“And YOU’RE the indoorsy one, Becky? I’m surprised. I would have thought a big, strong superhero like you would enjoy roughing it.”

Becky shrugged. “I guess I’m just more of a sit-on-the-couch-and-read-or-play-video-games person. I don’t know much about camping. I’m fine with leaving the decision-making to you guys.”

“Got it. Speaking of which, this looks like a good spot to set up,” Matt decided, pointing towards a small clearing in the trees. They had already gotten a good distance from where they had parked, and Becky’s spaceship hideout could barely be seen in the distance. “What was it you were gonna do now, Becky?”

Becky smirked and replied, “This,” before taking off at the speed of sound and going back and forth a handful of times, dropping off some of their supplies with each trip, before finally coming to a stop. When we did, the others all stared in surprise.

“Whoa... That was quick,” Inez said, rooted in place.

“I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t have to change into your WordGirl outfit to use your powers,” Jackie supposed.

“Oh no, I just rarely do this for obvious reasons,” Becky confirmed.

Just then, though, Becky’s phone began ringing. She took it out of her pocket and realized it was a call from home. Upon answering it and saying, “Hello?” she realized it was Huggy calling to report a crime to her. Apparently Dr. Two Brains was causing trouble, holding the mayor hostage and threatening to turn him into cheese unless his demands were met. Becky thanked huggy and hung up. “Ugh… Sorry guys, but I have to go for a bit. Dr. Two brains is up to no good. I’ll be back soon.”

“I would ask if you’re just making an excuse to bail on us, but your phone DID actually ring,” Matt said jokingly.

“Oh, har dee har har,” Becky replied flatly. “I wouldn’t do that to you guys.”

“I know, I know, I’m just teasing,” Matt assured. “Go on, go do your superhero things.”

Becky sighed and rolled her eyes before touching her hand to her chest, shouting “Word up!,” and flying off back towards town.

“I’ll never get tired of seeing her do that,” Fern said dreamily.

“It’s certainly cool to see in person. Let’s see about getting our tents up while Becky’s away,” Inez suggested.

“Good idea,” Matt agreed. “But I think I can handle putting them up myself.”

“Oh come on, Matt. Three tents are a lot for one person to set up,” Inez objected.

“I’ve got it, Nezzie, don’t worry. It might be a good idea to split up and do other things anyway, so setting up will be done quicker. Why don’t you guys go look for firewood while I do this?”

Jackie shrugged. “Alright, whatever. That sounds easier to me, anyway. We can go different ways and cover more ground.”

“Um… actually, Matt,” Fern spoke up hesitantly, “I… really don’t want to go off by myself. Are you sure I can’t just stay here with you?...”

Matt sighed and smiled sympathetically, patting her back. “Sure thing… Think you two can do it yourselves?” he asked the other two girls.

“Psh, no problem,” Jackie said, waving dismissively. “Why don’t you go that way, Inez, and I’ll go this way?”

“Got it,” Inez agreed with a thumbs up. She adjusted her glasses and squinted in mock seriousness. “I’ll be back,” she said with her best Schwarzenegger impression before turning and marching away, causing everyone else to laugh heartily.

“Inez is funny. I see why you like her,” Fern said.

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool,” Matt agreed, “and fun to tease to boot.”

“So what SHOULD I do?”

“Hmm…” Matt looked around, rubbing his chin, trying to find something Fern could do that could be accomplished with only one arm. “Why don’t you clear this spot of twigs and stuff, and maybe set up a few stones in a circle?” he suggested, pointing to a spot on the ground nearby, clear of grass. “We want our fire area to be cleared away.”

Fern nodded. “Good idea. I’ll do that,” she agreed, beginning the task as Matt began handling the tents. She became absorbed in the task and mostly paid little attention to Matt while he began pulling out their respective parts of their tents, only looking back periodically to make sure he was still there.

When she was finished setting up a few more than a dozen stones in a circle, Fern stood up and stretched. “All finished, Matt,” she said, turning to face him. It appeared a lot had happened while she wasn’t looking this time, though. The parts were all strewn about in a tangled mess, the piles much less distinguishable, and Matt was looking over it all, appearing stumped.

“Having trouble?” Fern asked, walking over to him.

“I don’t know, I thought it was going okay, but I put a few parts in the wrong piles and one thing led to another…”

“Think you can get it sorted out?”

“I think so, it’ll just take a minute. No need to worry.”

“If you’re sure…” Fern relented. “I’ll go wait for Jackie, Inez and Becky to get back. Then we can maybe go hiking.”

“Sounds good,” Matt said with a nod, still mostly paying attention to the heap of parts in front of him.

Fern turned around and was going to find a place to sit close by, when she heard a scuffling behind her, followed by Matt shouting in surprise and falling to the ground. “Matt?!” she cried, turning around and seeing her friend flat on the ground, groaning uncomfortably. “Are you okay?!” she asked, going over and attempting to lift him up with her good arm.

“Ugh, yeah, I’m alright…” Matt grunted, rubbing his head. “My foot got caught in one of the tent straps and I tripped. I’m fine, though.”

“Hey guys, I’m back with wood,” a voice called unexpectedly. Fern turned around, realizing it was Inez, carrying a bundle of small logs in her hands. Seeing the situation she had stumbled upon, she came over quickly and set the branches down, standing over Matt, who was now sitting up on the dirt, being propped up by one arm. “Are you alright, Matt?” she asked.

“I’m fine, I just tripped,” Matt assured.

“He was trying to set up the tents, but he got everything all mixed up,” Fern explained, slightly amused.

Inez smiled and shook her head. “Oh Matthew, you poor thing… and you were so sure you could do it yourself…”

“Alright, alright, that’s enough of that,” Matt said, trying to muster up as much remaining dignity as he could. “Are you two gonna help now or not?”

“Ah, I see, so NOW he wants our help,” Inez teased, rolling her eyes.

“Rrgh, alright, fine, you win,” Matt gave in. “I guess I could use it.”

“Now see, was that so hard?” Inez asked, patting his cheek. “You don’t have the instructions, I’m guessing?”

“No,” Matt answered, shaking his head. “I thought I could wing it.”

“I’m sure we can figure this out,” Fern spoke up, analyzing the jumbled pile of tent parts. “I think we’ll just have to conduct a little investigation,” she asserted, pulling out a small magnifying glass from her pocket and twirling it around in her free hand.

Matt and Inez looked on, puzzled. “How long have you had THAT with you?” the former asked.

“As long as I can remember,” Fern answered. “I’ve always loved detectives, especially Sherlock Holmes.”

Inez gasped in surprise. “You’re kidding! I do too!”

Fern smiled brightly. She hadn’t expected one of her new friends to also be very familiar with the subject. “Really?! Oh wow! What are the odds?! I love everything about them!  I even write my own detective stories!”

“Hmm, well even I don’t really do that. But that’s cool! You should let me read them sometime!”

“Think you know enough to be able to figure this out?” Matt asked, finally going to the effort of removing his foot from its ensnarement and dusting himself off.

Fern giggled and stepped over to him, speaking in a fake French accent, “Ah, but of course, dear Matthew! Zees ees but zee tiniest leetle task for zee great Virgule Watteau!”

“What now? Who?” Matt asked after a moment of standing in silent, wide-eyed confusion.

“Virgule Watteau. That’s the name of my detective character in my stories,” Fern explained in her normal voice. “She’s French.”

“If you say so,” Matt said with a shrug. “Whatever you have to do.”

Matt largely stood out of the way and observed as Fern and Inez attempted to sort out all three tents back into their own piles of parts. He could definitely tell how much Fern had learned about investigating in her spare time by the way she worked, and Inez complimented her well in this way.

Jackie was the first one to get back while they were getting the tents set up, with Becky arriving moments after her, her fight with Two Brains having ended successfully, with the evil scientist now behind bars once again. “So what did we miss?” she asked, looking over the setup Fern and Inez had going in confusion.

“Long story,” Fern replied. “Let’s just say Matt thought he could handle getting all the tents set up himself, and now here we are,” she explained, causing a small chorus of laughs among the rest of the girls while Matt remained in place, silently fuming.

***

 

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed with few heartaches for the group. Once Fern and Inez managed to get all three tents sorted back out and set up, they all went for a hike, then roasted the hot dogs Becky and Fern had brought. As they followed this up by roasting marshmallows, Fern suggested the possibility of telling a scary story, to which everyone else agreed enthusiastically. They were all impressed by Fern’s storytelling skills, and found themselves remaining unnerved for a while after she had finished, right up until they decided to retire to their sleeping bags for the night. Matt and Inez shared one tent and Becky and Fern shared another, leaving Jackie to relax and spread out inside a third tent all to herself, which she enjoyed having.

 

That night, long after they had gone to bed, Fern shot up from where she had been lying asleep, her face slightly damp from sweat. She glanced around and let out a sigh of relief, realizing she had just been dreaming and that she was safe and sound in her tent and sleeping bag in reality. She had little idea what time it was, and could only guess that morning was still a ways off, given that she saw no light penetrating through the tent fabric.

As she sat and calmed down in silence, she began to hear a soft rustling sound from nearby. For a moment she was concerned it might be a wild animal, but her worries were quelled upon hearing a familiar voice cough a couple times, and realizing someone was absent from her tent. She got up on her knees and scooted over to the opening to her tent and pulled the zipper down a ways. Poking her head out, she spotted Becky lying flat on her back on a blanket nearby in her pajamas, her arms folded behind her head. The coals from the fire still glowed a dull red, radiating a bit of heat as she gazed up at the clear night sky, the bright moon illuminating everything around them.

Hearing noise behind her, Becky turned her head to look and quickly saw Fern peeking outside. “Hey,” she said warmly with a small smile.

“Hi,” Fern replied, zipping the tent all the way open and stepping outside.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Becky asked.

“No, I don’t think so… I actually just had a nightmare,” Fern said, rubbing her forehead tiredly with her free arm.

Becky dropped her smile. “Oh… You want to talk about it?”

“Maybe…” Fern supposed.

“Here,” Becky said, scooting over and patting the spot next to her.

Fern smiled and stepped over to her, lying down where Becky gestured and wrapping her arms around her middle. Becky did likewise, and Fern rested her head on the older girl’s shoulder.

“So what was it? You didn’t scare yourself with your own ghost story, did you?” Becky asked with slight amusement.

“No… It was actually about what happened,” Fern explained once they were finally settled in their positions. “I don’t recall many details, but it was scary. I was back in that little room, and I was tied up again, and Hacker was talking to me and giving me these awful looks. I barely held it together.”

“I’m so sorry, Fern,” Becky said disheartenedly, snuggling her a bit. “I wish I could make it go away…”

“I know, and I appreciate it.”

“If it ever happens again, you can always give me a call. If I don’t answer right away, it’s probably just because I’m off fighting some bad guy.”

“Thanks, Becky,” Fern said, turning to get a better look at her. “Say, why were you out here in the first place?”

“No particular reason. I just couldn’t really sleep. When that happens, a lot of times I’ll do this. It seems to help.”

“How? Do you count the stars or something?”

“No, I mostly just think to myself.”

“About anything in particular?”

“Well… Fern, you know I’m from another planet, right? I came here with Huggy accidentally when I was really little, and it wasn’t long after that that my parents found me.”

“Oh right… I guess you’re adopted, huh? It’s hard to remember you’re an alien sometimes. You look pretty similar to your parents.”

Becky chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not exactly something I go around advertising. Sometimes on clear nights I’ll go sit outside or look out my window and watch the sky, and I’ll just think about it’s all out there somewhere,” she explained, pointing up towards the moonlit sky above them.

Fern began eyeing the sky and the thousands of little stars dotting it as Becky gestured upwards. She hesitated a moment before asking, “Do you ever miss Lexicon, or your birth parents?”

Becky sighed. “It’s hard to miss something you barely remember to begin with. It’s kind of a blessing I was so little when it happened.”

“Would you ever go back if you got the chance?”

“Not permanently, that’s for sure,” Becky answered, looking back towards her girlfriend. “I would never stay for good though, Fern. Even if it’s the nicest place in the universe, there’s too much here that I enjoy and care about. My parents, my brother, my friends… and you… besides, I’ve heard those theories about travelling across space at the speed of light, and how it speeds up time for you. If I went back there, who knows if they’d even still be alive. And if I came back here right after and the same thing happened, that would be absolutely devastating… So I’m not going to take chances. I have a good life here, and I don’t want to risk losing it and everything I care about.”

Fern nodded understandingly as she listened, holding Becky tighter. Becky may not have been as generally sad as she was, but hearing this story, Fern was all the more grateful that she had both of her birth parents, as happy as Becky was with her adoptive family.

“Well, I’m glad it’s all worth it for you,” Fern said, looking back up at the sky. “It’s sad, though. I hope you don’t feel too incomplete.”

“Trust me, Fern. As much as I would love for that to work out, everyone here on Earth are all I need,” Becky assured, kissing Fern’s cheek. With that, they sat there together in contented silence and continued observing the moon and stars in the bright night sky. Both of them would later remember it as their favorite part of the trip.


	3. An Unexpected Visit

Nearly a month had passed since Fern, Becky and their new friends had gone on their camping trip, and fall had now been in full swing for a significant amount of time. It was mid-November with Thanksgiving on the horizon, and most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, leaving their bare skeletons exposed to the air and wind, which was growing increasingly colder.

On this afternoon following a full day of school, Fern was killing time at her house while waiting for Matt to arrive and help her with her algebra assignment. She had found the subject they were currently discussing quite difficult to wrap her head around, and had vented her frustration to her friends at lunch. Matt, Jackie and Inez were apparently all quite good with math and would have been happy to help, but the girls both had other plans, leaving Matt as the only one readily available to her.

While Fern waited for him to arrive, she sat at her kitchen table, which was currently cluttered with various fabric and thread, as well as a large sewing machine. Her arm had been declared to be fully healed only days prior, allowing her to now finally begin work on what would soon become Becky’s Christmas present. Fern had been sewing for several years at this point, and she typically preferred giving homemade gifts over store-bought ones. So seeing how winter was fast approaching, she felt she had the perfect gift idea.

She hadn’t been working terribly long before hearing the doorbell rang, signaling for her to halt her project for the time being and answer. Upon making the short walk to the door and opening it up, her assumption of who it was was confirmed as Matt smiled and stepped inside. “Hey, Fernie,” he greeted, giving her a quick hug.

“Hi, Matt!” Fern returned, hugging him back. She always felt much smaller when the two of them hugged, given that Matt was almost a whole head taller than her. “Thanks for coming over.”

“No problem. I could tell how confused you were about your assignment today, and I wasn’t about to let you flounder,” Matt said, taking off his jacket and shoes and hanging them up.

“And I appreciate it,” Fern said thankfully.

“Are your parents here?” Matt asked.

“No, they’re, um… off running errands.”

Matt frowned concernedly. “You been doing okay here? Being by yourself and all?”

“It could be worse. I’ve only been a little bit anxious. I’m definitely glad you’re here, though,” she admitted, leading him through the front hall and into the living room.

The redhead caught a glimpse of the mountain of sewing supplies in the kitchen and asked, pointing towards it, “Whoa, what’s going on in there?”

“Oh, that’s my sewing stuff. I’ve been working on Becky’s Christmas present,” Fern answered as they sat down on the couch, her algebra book already lying on the coffee table nearby along with paper and pencils.

“Huh! I didn’t know you could sew. And that’s quite a head start you’re getting.”

“Well, I figured it would take a while to finish. I probably would have started already, but that would be impossible to do with only one arm.”

“May I ask what it is?”

“A quilt,” Fern answered with an excited grin. “And I’m going to put a special pattern on it. I’m sure you’ll see what it is when the time comes. Just don’t tell her about it.”

“Of course not,” Matt agreed. “I won’t say a word. For now, though, let’s worry about your math. The sooner we get it done, the sooner you won’t have to worry about it.”

Fern made no argument, so they quickly began working on her assignment. She was quite grateful at that point to have Matt as a friend. Becky helped her too, of course, but neither girl was much better at math than the other.

The two of them managed to finish up about an hour later. Fern gave a sigh of relief, slamming her book shut and flopping back against the couch. “Thanks a lot, Matt. That would have taken a lot longer by myself.”

Matt shrugged. “It was nothing. This stuff is pretty simple to me now. Word of advice: Don’t take calculus if you don’t think you’ll have to.”

Fern shook her head. “I don’t plan on it. You want to hang around a while?”

“I don’t see why not. Your parents won’t mind?”

“I doubt it. They’ve been glad to see me spending time with more people.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well… It’s a few weeks late, but…” Fern was interrupted when she and Matt then heard the doorbell ring for the second time that afternoon. “Now who could that be?... I’ll be right back, Matt,” she said, getting up and heading for the door. When she got there and opened it, she found Becky standing on the front step in the autumn breeze, her hair blowing around as the sky was beginning to darken outside.

“Hi, Fern,” Becky greeted.

Fern’s heart skipped a beat for a moment. As glad as she was to see her girlfriend, she didn’t want her catching a glimpse of her present, even if at this point it was only beginning to resemble a quilt. “Oh! Hi, Becky!” she said in reply. “Could you wait here just one second, please?”

“Oh - Well sure, alright,” Becky complied with a confused shrug.

“Thanks, I’ll be right back,” Fern promised, shutting the door again and speeding to the kitchen, closing the door that led into it tightly.

Matt caught a glimpse of her coming back into his field of view and looked up. “Who was it?” he asked.

“It’s Becky, but I can’t let her catch sight of her present!”

“Oh, right. Good call,” Matt said with a thumbs-up as Fern ran back to the front door.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized after opening it, stepping aside and allowing Becky to come inside. “I just had to take care of something.”

Becky began taking off her shoes and jacket as she replied, “That’s alright. I saw Matt’s truck out there, so I guess he’s still here?”

Fern nodded. “That’s right. What’re you doing here? Were we doing something tonight and I forgot?”

“Oh no. See, I was working on the math assignment - or trying, anyway - but it’s pretty difficult. And I remembered at lunch that Matt agreed to come meet up with you and help you, so I thought maybe he could help me out too, since he’s here.”

“Well that’s alright. I’m sure he won’t mind. Come on, he’s right over here.” Fern then led Becky into the living room where Matt was waiting.

“Hey, Becky,” Matt greeted. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could help me out with algebra, too. I’m struggling with it.”

Matt smirked and rolled his eyes. “Come on, grab a seat.”

“Thanks. I did manage to get about a third of the way through, before the problems got too difficult, so hopefully it won’t take too long,” Becky said hopefully as she and Fern sat on either side of Matt. Fern waited patiently but tiredly as Matt and Becky worked and became absorbed in the task.

A little while later they were close to being finished when they noticed how quiet Fern had been up to that point. Looking over at her, they realized she had fallen asleep and was slumped over one of the pillows and couch arms, snoring lightly and drooling the slightest bit.

“Wow. She must have been tired,” Matt remarked. “Either that, or we’re just that boring.”

Becky’s reaction was distinctly different. “Aaaawww!! I’ve never seen her when she’s asleep before! She’s so cute!” she squealed joyfully, jumping to her feet and hopping over Matt’s legs which were resting on the coffee table to get a better look. “Would it be mean if I took a picture of her?”

“I guess if you tell her you took it and didn’t post it to social media or anything without her permission, there wouldn't be too much of a reason for her to be mad,” Matt supposed. “Could be worth a good laugh or two, at least.”

Now having her worries mostly quenched, Becky pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a couple photos of Fern before tucking it away again and kneeling down on the floor near her. “I don’t want to wake her up, but I just have to watch her for a bit,” Becky whispered. “She just looks so sweet and peaceful…”

“She definitely looks relaxed,” Matt agreed quietly. “I’m not surprised she fell asleep. I noticed her eyes were starting to look a bit droopy while we were working.”

“I think she’s been kind of tired in general lately,” Becky remarked. “I know it’s been over a month since the incident and a lot of the attention you guys have been getting has died down. But she and I haven’t been able to go anywhere without at least one person recognizing her and wanting to talk to her.”

“Same here,” Matt concurred. “She came with Jackie and Inez and I to the mall one day when Jackie drug us there with her, and we got a whole ton of people coming up to us, seeing how it was all four of us together that time.”

“It’s even affected me a bit, since people have seen me with Fern so much at this point. I was at an art gallery with Violet last week looking at some new paintings and displays she wanted to show me, and someone came up to us and asked me about her.”

Matt sighed and leaned back against the couch cushions. “Appreciate your anonymity, Becky. You’re pretty lucky to be able to take off your WordGirl costume and go much more unnoticed. We don’t have that luxury. I mean, hey, we’re far from being the biggest celebrities in town or anything, but still.”

“I get what you mean,” Becky said understandingly. “I just like to hope it’s been helping her self-esteem a bit. She could use it.”

“No argument here,” Matt agreed. He sighed and looked around, not sure what else to do. “I guess we’re pretty much done here, but it might be rude to just get up and leave without telling her,” Matt supposed. “And I know she wouldn’t want us to leave her alone here while her parents are gone.”

“I agree,” Becky said, standing up and stretching. “I guess we’ll just have to hang around until she wakes up. Why don’t I grab some drinks? I’m sure they have something in the fridge.”

Matt shot up as Becky began walking towards the closed kitchen door, remembering her in-progress present was behind it. “Oh! Um, hold on a sec. Maybe we shouldn’t take anything from there, just in case. I mean, there’s no one to ask permission from.”

“Hmm… Good point,” Becky agreed, halting her forward motion. “What should we do, then?”

“I think there’s a Chickin Lickin’ nearby. Why don’t I go drive over and get some stuff from there while you stay and keep Fern company?” Matt suggested, heading for the front door.

“Ooh, sounds good,” Becky said, liking the idea. “Make sure to get me the tenders with the Cool Pinata sauce. I love that stuff.”

“Got it,” Matt replied, grabbing his shoes and jacket and heading out to his truck.

Becky sat back down on the couch and waited quietly for Matt to return while Fern continued sleeping relatively silently next to her. About ten minutes after Matt left, Becky noticed Fern beginning to stir.

“Nngh…” Fern moaned, rubbing her eyes. She adjusted herself so she wasn’t slumped over the side of the couch anymore and turned to see her girlfriend there with her. “Oh, hi, Becky…”

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Becky replied, pulling Fern closer and lightly kissing her cheek. “Did you have a nice nap?”

Fern nodded. “I did. I was pretty tired… Where did Matt go?” she asked, looking around.

“He went to pick up some stuff from Chickin Lickin’. We didn’t want to just leave you here alone, so we wanted to be prepared to hang around a while,” Becky answered with a chuckle.

Fern smiled and snuggled her. “Really? That was really nice of you guys.”

“Well, we just know you haven’t enjoyed being at home alone since the incident, so we didn’t want to do that to you. We’re glad to keep you company.”

Fern thanked her once more as they both heard Matt pull up again. They got up and opened the door for him, which he was thankful for, as his hands were taken up with the bag of food and a drink carrier. “Well hey, looks like Sleeping Beauty woke up,” he teased, stepping inside and setting everything down on the coffee table. “Hope you like chicken, Fern.”

“No worries, I definitely do,” Fern assured, licking her lips. She hadn’t eaten since lunch, and it was almost dinnertime anyway.

“Hey, I just remembered you were going to suggest something to do earlier. What was it?” Matt asked as he and Becky sat down on the couch.

“Oh, right! Well, I don’t know if you guys like them or not, and Halloween's already come and gone, but…” Fern began, bending down and rooting through the nearby DVD cabinet before pulling out one of several cases, holding it up to reveal it was a copy of  _The Exorcist_. “...I thought maybe I’d try watching a horror movie again. It’s been a while, but I think I’ve given myself enough time. I think I’m ready.”

“Sure,” Matt agreed, pulling a chicken sandwich out of the bag and beginning to unwrap it. “I usually prefer action movies, but I’m game. You really do have a bit of a dark side, don’t you?” he asked with an amused smirk.

Fern chuckled and rolled her eyes. “What can I say? Dark stuff has always fascinated me.”

Becky, meanwhile, had halted in the middle of opening her box of chicken tenders and dipping sauce. She wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of horror movies, to say the least. She absolutely despised gore, and the few horror films she had ever seen still managed to utterly terrify her. On top of that, she’d heard  _The Exorcist_  was supposed to be one of the scariest of all time.

Fern and Matt looked over at her and could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t thrilled with the idea. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, Becky,” Fern assured. “I have other stuff here.”

Becky thought for a moment before asking hesitantly, “...Is it gory?...”

Fern smiled and shook her head. “Nope. I don’t have that many gory ones anyway. I tend to prefer paranormal or psychological ones.”

“Well… I guess it’s okay. I haven’t seen one in quite a while, not since I was a bit younger. Maybe I could handle it this time around…”

“Okay, if you’re sure. Let’s give it a shot,” Fern said, popping the disc into the DVD player before sitting down in between Becky and Matt on the couch and grabbing her own meal.

As the movie went on, Fern was relieved to find that she wasn’t much more unnerved by the movie than she usually was. It helped that she had seen it a number of times and was relatively familiar with it at this point.

Becky, however, having never seen it before and being as susceptible to scary things as she was, found herself quite terrified as it went on. It had been a thankful distraction for her when Fern’s parents arrived home about halfway through and they had been forced to pause the movie to greet them.

Before returning to the movie, Fern turned to Becky and asked while bringing her hand to her back to rub it, “You holding up okay?”

Becky flinched upon being touched unexpectedly, but allowed Fern to keep her hand there. “What? Who? Me? Pff, oh yeah, I’m fine!” she replied with fervent nodding, although it was easy to tell how tense she was.

“We can stop any time, you know,” Matt offered, leaning over and meeting Becky’s eyes.

“I know, I know…” Becky said, looking down at her now-empty box of chicken strips while nervously scratching the side of her face. She admittedly felt quite pathetic at that moment. There she was, supposedly a strong, brave superhero, and she was almost shaking from fear due to a simple little movie. She felt like a complete baby.

Fern gently reached over and took her hand. “It’s just a movie, Becky. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll keep my hand right here until it ends, if you think it’ll help.”

Becky smiled and nodded, appreciating the offer. “Yeah, I think it would… Let’s keep going.”

“Okay then,” Fern said with a smile, continuing to hold Becky’s hand as she clicked the play button on the remote. Becky ended up glomping Fern in a large, shaky hug at the worst parts, which Fern was glad to return. Later, after the movie reached its end, Becky would end up divulging that it had turned out to be an enjoyable and interesting movie, despite being scary, but also that it likely would have been much less fun if she hadn’t had company with her or been holding Fern’s hand, which Fern had been glad to hear. As much as she enjoyed being comforted by Becky when she needed it, she was happy to know she was capable of returning the favor when Becky was the one in need of a little comfort.


End file.
